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1991 Music Hits
In 1991 the music industry saw more new ground broken as the wave of Grunge music took over the early part of the 90s and carried on through to 1992, however in 1991 Grunge got the boost it was looking for and groups like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and the rest got their piece of the music pie in a big way.
The Grunge music as well as the increasing hip hop genre's Gangsta Rap, the decade was off to a hot start. There were losses along the way as the industry lost legend Freddie Mercury who led the band Queen. The loss of Mercury spurred his colleagues to form a tribute to him in the form of a concert that featured the remaining band members and the teaming up of many of the music industry's legends and new breed. It sent the Queen single “Bohemian Rhapsody” to the #1 single spot again, the second time in history such an landmark was achieved.
The range of genres reaching peak power went from Grunge and Rap to a new resurgence of Christian music and Gospel. The breakout star was Amy Grant hitting her first #1 hit “Baby Baby”. That breakthrough opened doors for the Contemporary Christian Music genre big time. Grant exploded in popularity and profits inspiring numerous others to join in the CCM field like Michael W. Smith who hit the top ten with his song “Place In This World”. Hot on the trail was Jon Gibson with his record breaking hit, “Jesus Loves Ya” which still holds several record breaking kudos to this day.
The movies led the top five singles of the year again thanks to Bryan Adams' love song and ballad to the Kevin Costner take on the Robin Hood called “Everything I Do”. People heard that song played on radio and on television it seemed endlessly, however it was one of those songs that bounced listeners to the movie theaters and from the theaters to the record stores. Following Adams' hit was another major achievement for the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. Jackson cleverly incorporated the latest computer special effects with a song about race relations. His hit “Black Or White” was an instant hit that sent Jackson to another lead-in for the pop music industry, carrying over from his monumental status from the 1980's. It set Jackson for four decades of chart topping fame. The #3 hit came from Roxette whose song “Joyride” caused a sensation and astounding impact internationally. The forth and fifth hits came from the Scorpions and R.E.M.
Other top songs from around the world for 1991 included Whitney Houston's “All The Man That I Need”, “Alive” by Pearl Jam, “Coming Out Of The Dark” by Gloria Estefan, “Emotions” by Mariah Carey, “Every Heartbeat” by Amy Grant, “Motownphily” by Boyz II Men, “Poundcake” by Van Halen, “Rescue Me” by Madonna, “Shameless” from Garth Brooks”, “Someday” by Mariah Carey, “That's What Love Is For” by Amy Grant, and more.
Classical and Opera saw milestones as well with such works as John Corigliano's “Symphony No. 1” , Joel-Francois Durand's “Un Feu Distinct” for flute, piano, clarinet, violin, and cello, Ulrich Leyendecker's “Symphony No. 3”, John Adams' “The Death of Klinghoffer, Daniel Catan's “Rappaccini's Daughter”, and Daron Hagen's “Shining Brow” and many more.